Exhibition: A glance on Haipai Flavours

This is the first of a series of 4 exhibitions that will run throughout 2017 and 2018. Yishizhuxing is the Chinese idiomatic expression that defines “the basic necessities of life” which are clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. Behind the literal meaning that idioms carry, often their figurative meaning convey a greater sense of the cultural traditions and intangible knowledge of a country.

“A glance on Haipai Flavours”

食(shi)

How does culinary tradition define and shape a country’s society and its cultural understanding?

Food, within a society, has not only the practical function of being the source for human nutrition but it also conveys many symbolic elements that define the relationships between people.

Since ancient times, food has commonly been used as central or secondary subject on paintings. Still life paintings, for example, have always been a powerful mean to depict habits and relationships by using a symbolic language.

Today, food is still commonly used within the artistic language due to its meaningful nature as an important component of society; it expresses defining characteristic elements like economical status, social status and geographical status.

The exhibition “A glance on Haipai Flavours” explores Li Shoubai’s cultural understanding of food among Shanghainese society. Scenes portrayed include interiors and exteriors of the Shikumen neighborhoods, the relation of people with food and beverages, daily habits, families celebrating traditional festivities, and the arriving of Western food to Shanghai.

Shanghainese customs and traditions will be glanced through the cooking habits, selection of dishes and the human interaction among the members of this society.

The exhibition is a rich selection that presents some of the many styles that Li Shoubai has studied and experiment in order to develop a unique language that uses 重彩画 (in English Heavy Colour Painting) as its main technique.

Heavy Colour Painting was born in modern China as a mean to bring together the main features of Eastern and Western painting techniques. The richness of this technique relays on the perfect balance reached between the traditional Chinese materials (rice paper, ink and watercolour) and the Western approach to manage colour and brightness on brushstrokes.

The exhibition invites the viewer to take a closer look to the symbolic meaning of food and welcomes the audience to perceive the traditional sense of Shangainese culinary culture.

Exhibition details

“A glance on Haipai Flavours” at Shoubai Art- 2nd floor

Dates: April 17th – June 30th

Opening hours

Mon-Sun 10:00am - 6:30pm

Free exhibition tours will be run on a daily basis at 11:40am and 3:00pm. Come and learn more about Haipai Art and Shikumen lifestyle.